Sydney Lucas - Fun Home

What was phenomenal about the conducting?

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Yes, I am familiar with the show.

I understand the word "amazing" is now used as a baseline in contemporary language for everything that is average. I am just wondering what could be "phenomenal," which is a superlative meaning something beyond extraordinary, something singularly spectacular. I am trying to understand how a conductor can be phenomenal outside of being Leonard Bernstein.

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Thanks for your post jdrye.

Saw the show while in the city over Thanksgiving weekend. I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I .... I just wasn't as moved by it as everyone else. There are some wonderful elements to be admired. I loved the kids in the show, I loved the design. They manage to utilize every inch of the stage without ever seeming cluttered. The lighting design was superb. The Tesori score is one of her better ones.

Yet, at the end, I just wasn't affected by the show. As much as I respect Cerveris and Kuhn, I hated both of their characters. I didn't walk away from the show feeling the parents were flawed, but doing their best. I left feeling they were just awful, narcissistic people who never should have had kids. Both of the parents respective songs at the end of the show felt heavy handed and forced. Ultimately, I left with the sense that despite all of the dysfunction, Alison turned out to be pretty well adjusted adult, so while she had some unfortunate experiences, so what???

Again, I didn't hate the show. I'm glad I saw it. I just don't feel the same passion for it that others seem to.

Act4Ever -- thanks for the conductor name --- where did you find it? Were you at the show too??? I don't know why I didn't recognize Paul Masse from THE LANDING but you're right now that I think back. And looking him up, he also did Scottsboro Boys so that may be why Kander was at that performance, as it seems like they have worked together a lot.

djdan --- I can absolutely understand your reaction.... I've had that sort of reaction to other shows that lots of people seem moved by (ex. I hate Next To Normal). I don't disagree with your assessment of the parents, etc.

^^^^ The original "medium Alison" was Alexandra Socha. I think her take on the character's big solo ("Changing My Major") was a bit more theatrical. The quiet parts were very quiet, but moving. And her belt is very strong. But Emily stepped into the role and is very credible. I think she's done a great job. It's not an easy song to sing/perform. It runs the emotional gamut from delirious joy to fear. I like both of them, honestly.

To me, though, nothing can touch Sydney Lucas's performance. How a 10-year-old can do that, I have no idea. She is worth the price of admission!

Updated On: 12/22/13 at 06:31 PM

Her father is totally woofy.

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I don't like going back and forth on message boards but I must say, DJDAN, your reply did clear something up for me. I had suggested you maybe weren't paying attention but now it's clear you definitely were not! lol

"She doesn't appear to have gone to jail, she doesn't appear to be numbing out via unhealthy habits"
I would consider burying yourself in work spending all your time alone suffocated by childhood trauma as an unhealthy habit. Maybe that's just me! lol

"she seemed to come to terms with her sexuality pretty quickly without a lifelong struggle."
Really? She is still struggling with this issue. Not sure if the character is in her 30's or 40's but that's not a quick coming to terms with anything.

I suppose the biggest difference we took away from the show is I thought her father was a sad, tragic figure. And an important reminder that gay people were repressed not so long ago. And prejudice and hatred can not only effect one person but all the people around them too. Where as you thought he was a dick.

At least the show was involving enough for people to think, regardless if they liked it or not. Can't find that in a Frank Wildhorn show!

RUkiddingme wrote "I suppose the biggest difference we took away from the show is I thought her father was a sad, tragic figure. And an important reminder that gay people were repressed not so long ago. And prejudice and hatred can not only effect one person but all the people around them too. Where as you thought he was a dick. "

In the late 70's New York was full of vibrant gay men living openly. This guy was a selfish dirtbag, who instead of embracing his sexuality CHOSE to hide it and used his wife and children to do so with absolutely no regard for their mental or physical well being. In one memorable scene the mother speaks of his bringing home body lice. If he had lived, and continued to carry on as he did he likely would have been among the first generation of the AIDS epidemic (something Bechdel has mused upon in interviews) and possibly could have passed it on to his wife. Instead the selfish bastard killed himself when confronted by his daughter, leaving his wife and children to pick up the pieces.
Just because a character is homosexual doesn't mean he is a role model. This father is the villain of the piece, and there is nothing wrong with hating him and his actions.
Alison is the hero. She confronts her past, explores it, and continues on her life's path without making the same errors her father did in living a selfish life.

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She stole the show.

Updated On: 7/3/14 at 10:16 PM

FindingNamo wrote: "I don't know if you know this or not, but the virus doesn't come with any moral imperative"

I have been poz for 15 years. So yah, I know that. It is not making a moral judgement to say that certain actions will have likely results (ie unprotected sex with multiple anonymous partners will likely lead to HIV infection).

I have been reading the Bechdel's book over the last day and it is interesting to see how things were changed for the stage version. For example the scene where the father takes the kids to NY for the bicentennial - Bechdel was actually 15, and one of the main events of the trip in the book is not the father taking off to cruise, but rather the youngest brother wandering out and being approached by a pedophile. Following this section on page 195 of the book Bechdel actually muses on how if her father hadn't died he may have contracted HIV and then passed it onto her mother. Further she goes on to say on page 196, "There is a certain emotional expedience to claiming him as a tragic victim of homophobia, but that's a problematic line of thought. For one thing, it makes it harder for me to blame him." She does show how he was a very poor father, and yet provides a more fully nuanced portrait than is possible in the stage production. If anything, for me reading the book has validated some of the judgements I made for myself about the story.

ClydeBarrow says I am projecting, but the comments I made in this thread seem to be very much in line with some things Bechdel herself felt. This wasn't a character she created - this was her real father, and yes she does judge him.

In another thread about Fun Home I commented on how I didn't like the staging of the song "Ring of Keys." (I didn't like that it was performed by a child.) Just because I had a criticism doesn't mean I hated the show - it had many parts that I enjoyed, for example "I'm changing my major to Joan." I don't think the show is perfect, and I can't see it being in a big Broadway house, but I do think it is an important show worth discussing and exploring further. I was lucky to see the very fine original cast, but this is a show that will likely have a life far beyond this production. New York isn't the be all and end all for a show like this which I'm sure will see many regional and student productions long into the future.

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I had never heard of HIV before your post, inception, so clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about.

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